Smart CER Consumer Uptake Tool

Summary

Need

While some Smart Energy, such as rooftop solar, are already economic and popular, the uptake of other Smart Energy devices such as controlled smart hot water, batteries and Electric Vehicles (EVs) is being hampered due to customer confusion, knowledge gaps and uncertain financial returns.

The project aims to address a lack of consumer information to drive a significant increase in residential flexible demand.

Action

The project will develop a free, online Smart Energy Tool which will provide residential customers with an economic assessment of their Smart Energy options. This includes comparing the financial and energy independence benefits of each of the following rooftop solar, batteries, heat pumps, and EV smart chargers.

The Tool will be available to customers at no cost and will analyse their energy usage, available tariffs and market data to:

• demonstrate the commercial benefits (return on investment) of adding dynamic control to new and existing solar PV systems;
• recommend investment decisions (smart hot water, heat pumps and batteries) and tariff options; and
• connect customers with potential contractors for quotes and installation of recommended devices.

In conjunction, the project will develop software integration to support the active control of 1,000 ‘smart hot water’ systems and optimise the use of these devices based on available retail tariffs and the customer’s solar generation profile. Software integration with Solar Thermal Australia (STA) will enable active control of STA’s smart hot water heat pump systems without the need for additional hardware or an additional site visit. The Tool will drive customer participation in the hot water Flexible Demand.

Outcome

The project will:

1. Increase the value delivered by renewable energy by:

• increasing the uptake of flexible Smart Energy within the residential market;
• developing systems to integrate with STA heat pumps and optimise its operation; and
• educating consumers about the benefits of heat pumps (instead of gas how water) andd the value of Flexible Demand.

2. Reduce or remove barriers to renewable energy uptake through the delivery of a free, publicly available consumer smart energy tool that enables solar consumers to find the optimal smart energy solution.

3. Increase skills, capacity and knowledge relevant to Renewable Energy Technologies by providing solar and smart energy owners with a sophisticated and independent software portal that demonstrates the savings achieved from their smart hot water.